


where no woman has gone before

by phantomlistener



Category: Rosemary and Thyme
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, F/F, Feelings Realization, Gardeners...in SPACE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22603774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomlistener/pseuds/phantomlistener
Summary: Two women, one ancient shuttlecraft, and no breakdown cover. What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Rosemary Boxer/Laura Thyme
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	where no woman has gone before

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ijemanja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijemanja/gifts).



_rescue minus eleven hours, twenty-two minutes_

“Oh, no,” said Rosemary as the low-pitched hum of the shuttle’s engines stuttered and stopped. She banged hard on the console with both hands and kicked the base for good measure, to no avail.

“Frustration won’t get her going again and you know it,” said her companion with a sigh of long-suffering righteousness. “I said this when the engine literally _fell out_ while we were docked at Epsilon Station but no, apparently – and I am actually quoting you here – _she’s a sturdy little shuttle and I won’t hear a word against her_.”

“She _is_ ,” said Rosemary defensively. “I’ve had her for twenty years and she’s never let me down before!”

“What part of ‘the engine fell out’ was hard to understand?”

“It was easily fixed, Laura, don’t fuss.”

“Don’t—don’t _fuss_?!” Laura spluttered, swinging the co-pilot’s chair around to face her. “Don’t fuss?!! Rosemary, we are stuck in the middle of god-knows-what star system, because you can never be bothered to download the cartography updates, with a minimal amount of oxygen because the air recycling system is buggered for the fourth time in as many months. If you didn’t have breakdown cover, I’d be writing my will.”

There was silence.

“You do _have_ breakdown cover?”

“It...expired?” Rosemary said faintly.

Laura buried her head in her hands. “I give up.”

_rescue minus eleven hours, three minutes_

“You won't get much of a response on that frequency. Trust me, I used to work for these idiots! They barely monitor the outer frequencies, reckon anyone in trouble would go for the obvious option.”

“The busier option,” said Rosemary, disapproving. “Anything below 1,200 and we're competing with lost dogs, letters home, and every other idiot without breakdown cover in the sector.”

“Anything over it and trust me, nobody's going to hear us.” Laura pressed four buttons in quick succession to set the frequency to long-range. “There.”

“What _would_ I do without you?”

“I shudder to think.” She smiled at Rosemary from the adjacent seat and unbuckled her belt. “There's a thermos of tea in the back, want some?”

“Oh, please.”

“You know, this is going to get very dull very quickly,” warned Laura from halfway inside one of the ceiling-height cupboards.

“I have _games_ ,” Rosemary pronounced, dissolving into laughter at Laura's anguished wail of displeasure. “Okay, just one?”

“You risk forfeiting a nice strong cuppa if you carry on,” came the threatening response, half-muffled by the open cupboard door.

Rosemary laughed harder.

_rescue minus six hours, forty-two minutes_

“I am _not_ playing cards with you.”

“Why not?!” Rosemary sounded offended, all innocent smile and wide eyes.

“You _cheat_ ,” said Laura with finality, “and that's that.”

_rescue minus two hours, one minute_

“How much air do we have left?”

“A couple of hours.” Rosemary tapped the gauge hard as if she was expecting to intimidate it into giving her a better answer. “But Tau Station isn’t very far away, Laura, and we were due to dock in twenty minutes. They’ll come looking for us, never you fear.”

Laura laughed, disbelieving. “They’ll have better things to do than hunting for two stray old ladies!”

“Oy, we are _not_ old ladies!” She punctuated her point with a determined finger jabbing into Laura’s arm. “We’re the finest xenobotanists this side of the Centaurus arm. And anyway, if I'm any judge of things the station commander clearly has a crush on me. I’m sure they’ll have the search and rescue out in no time.”

“Oh, _brilliant_. So we're relying on your apparently irresistible charms to get us rescued from the arse end of nowhere before we suffocate?”

“Seems that way.”

_rescue minus fifty-eight minutes_

“You’re barmy and impossible and this whole ridiculous situation is completely and utterly your fault but if we’re- you know, if this is actually the end of it all, well...I’m glad it’s with you.”

“This isn’t the end,” Rosemary said, with as much firmness as she could muster in the thinning air. “It wasn’t the end when that mad priest tried to kill us on Kappa Station, and it wasn’t the end when Commander Anders decided to try and poison the entire terraforming team on Iolus, and-” She inhaled a ragged breath and reached for Laura’s hand. “I’m glad I’m with you too.”

Laura shuffled closer on the narrow seat, where they had moved to the back of the shuttle to watch the blue-and-white nebula nearby swirl towards them at an imperceptible rate, and leaned her head against Rosemary’s. “I don’t think anyone’s coming, you know,” she said softly.

“Seems that way.” Rosemary squeezed her hand, voice hoarse with the lack of air. “Don’t let’s give up just yet, though.”

“It’s...getting cold.”

“Space _is_ cold,” breathed Rosemary, in a faint echo of what Laura always thought of as her ‘lecturer’s voice’. She pulled her blanket further up, hugging it to her chest with her free hand, and met her eyes. “I’m _so_ sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s alright.”

“It’s not!”

“Okay, it’s not.” She leaned in and pressed her forehead against Rosemary’s, as if she could be convinced by osmosis that Laura was right. “It’s a bloody awful situation, Rosemary, but like you said. We’ve faced worse, haven’t we? And always come through?”

“Yes,” said Rosemary.

“Well then.”

“It's just that if we _are_ , y'know,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “ _dying_.”

“Which we're not,” Laura interjected with just a fraction of her usual determination.

“If we are.” The temperature inside the shuttle had fallen to something approaching uncomfortable and she settled her head on Laura's shoulder, nestled close to her, and closed her eyes. “You're...you're very important to me, Laura,” she said softly.

Cheek against Rosemary's hair, Laura let out a soft chuckle. “I should hope so too.”

“You're not listening,” said Rosemary, all pained breathlessness and disappointment. “Laura. I'm trying to say that I have...you know. _Feelings._ ”

Comprehension hit Laura with all the force of a meteor. “You-” She coughed, desperately trying to fill her lungs with oxygen that just wasn’t there. “You really waited until...until we’re _dying_ to tell me that?!”

“Desperate times, Laura.” A cracked laugh bubbled up from her chest. “I was waiting for the...well, the right moment, I suppose.”

Laura huffed out a disbelieving breath, regretted it as her lungs winced in protest. “You could have said it over a vampiric space succulent for all I care!”

“ _Nepenthes caelorum,_ ” said Rosemary drowsily. “Wasn’t she beautiful?”

“Now is _not the time_ ,” Laura positively squeaked. Her head was spinning, vision wobbling with the lack of oxygen. “We’re both idiots,” she managed. “Fools. Ninnies. _Nitwits_. All this time-”

“I know.”

“If we get through this-”

“ _Yes_ ,” said Rosemary, and settled in closer. “Yes.”

_rescue minus thirty-one minutes_

“I’m scared,” Rosemary said in a small voice. Her head was heavy on Laura's shoulder, and her fingers were freezing to the touch.

“Me too,” admitted Laura, and leaning into the weight of Rosemary's body, she closed her eyes.

_rescue minus one minute_

The radio crackled to life, unnaturally loud in the silence.

“ _Shuttlecraft Rover_ ,” came a soft voice, tinny and concerned, “ _this is the rescue ship Andraxia. Come in Rover, do you read_?”

Laura’s eyes fluttered weakly.

“ _Shuttlecraft Rover_ ,” repeated the voice. “ _We will shortly be evacuating all occupants directly to our medical bay. Stand by for evacuation, Rover_.”

“ _Told you so_ ,” came Rosemary's faint whisper.

Laura held her closer, and waited for the dematerialisation beam to take them.

_rescue plus thirty-five minutes_

“Rosemary, did you really mean-”

“ _Yes._ ”


End file.
